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Home , Andrew Breitbart, Baked Alaska (activist), Breitbart News, Identity Evropa, Mike Cernovich, Paleoconservatism

IV. THE IDEOLOGY OF THE ALT RIGHT [ T in Gainesville,. onOctober 19,2017 Arts M.PhillipsCenterforthePerforming the Curtis Alt rightleaderRichard Spencer, speaksduringapress conference at itselfisnewer,paleoconservatism arisinginthe1980s the isolationistsand“America Firsters”ofthe1930s, (also knownas“paleos”) canbefoundasfarback Though somebeliefscommonamongpaleoconservatives ethnicity andgender. enlightened attitudesonsubjectssuchasrace, religion, and traditional values butalsoareturn to older, less the Americanrightthatseeksnotonlylimitedgovernment followers. Paleoconservatism isanobscure segmentof in Richard Spencer, hisNationalPolicy Institute,andhis influences ispaleoconservatism, reflected mostclearly subcultural influences.Oneofthemoststraightforward The altright’s ideologicalsources are asmixed asits Paleoconservatism to formtheideologicalbasisofaltright. A numberofdifferent beliefscametogether inthe2010s splits and disputes history.within the movement in its short astruggleillustratedconstituent parts, by thenumerous identity oreven reaching rough consensusamongits new, aclearself- thealtrightwrestles witharticulating held together by whitesupremacist ideology. Still elements from different onlinesubcultures loosely he altrightisastrange stew, aconglomerate of together inthe2010sto form theideological A numberofdifferent beliefscame Photo: JoeRaedle/GettyImages basis ofthealtright.

adulatory Christianassistants.” as “ill-mannered, touchy Jewsandtheir groveling or In spiteofthis,hehascharacterized neoconservatives paleoconservativism’s foundersishimselfJewish. for nationalism.Ironically, ,oneof the conceptofequalityiscommon,assupport , non-Christianreligions andeven Among paleoconservatives, oppositionto , audiences fortheirviewswithintheradical right. have more orlesswillinglyself-exiled,finding receptive religion. Others,includingJared Taylor andPeter Brimelow, despite holdingcontroversial viewsonrace, culture or have managedto keep afootholdinthemainstream content. Somepaleos,mostnotablyPatrick Buchanan, and the conservative publicationssuchasthe Sobran andSamuelFrancis, were fired from mainstream most prominent voices, includingfigures like Joseph isnocoincidencethatsomeofpaleoconservatism’s the mainstream right. anti-Semitism sometimes find themselves “exiled” from explicit abouttheir beliefs onissues such asrace and andthefarright;adherentsconservatism whoare too uneasily straddles the dividing linebetweenmainstream which paleosvigorously oppose.Paleoconservatism as a reaction againstneoconservatism, in large part forthebigotednature oftheir

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21 The Ideology of the Alt Right Right: Richard Spencer speaks to select media in a building serving as What Spencer and others office space on August 14, 2017 in Alexandria, . Spencer, head of the National Policy Institute announced his intention to speak at rallies at in the alt right really A&M University and the the following month. hoped to accomplish was Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images reinjection of their racist views into mainstream , to The early , the era of the Bush administration and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, represented the high-water carve out a place for mark for ; paleos had little hope their views themselves within the would find much of an audience. However, as public opinion conservative movement soured on the wars and on the Bush administration and its neoconservative allies, paleos like Paul Gottfried and a new and to make their generation of right-wing activists—Richard Spencer is the and anti-Semitism most well-known example—sensed the opening of a window of opportunity and pounced. The term “alternative right” itself more acceptable. was coined in 2008 by Richard Spencer (Gottfried has also claimed credit); by 2010, Spencer had created Alternative Right Magazine, an online publication with himself as “executive editor” and Brimelow and Gottfried as “senior contributing PIONEERS AND INFLUENCERS editors.” The site described itself as a magazine of “radical ” attempting to forge a “new intellectual right- OF THE ALT RIGHT: wing” outside establishment conservatism.

Richard Spencer Though presenting itself as a form of renegade conservatism (see below), what Spencer and others in the alt right really Paleoconservatism hoped to accomplish was reinjection of their racist views into Spencer created the term “alt right”, mainstream conservatism, to carve out a place for themselves which he considers a movement within the conservative movement and to make their racism about “”. and anti-Semitism more acceptable. Alt right adherents influenced by paleoconservativism tend to be particularly interested in mainstream politics, more so than other alt righters. The birth of the alternative right coincided with a resurgence of right-wing following the election Renegade Conservative of as president, but the alt right was mostly In 2007, he co-founded Breitbart unable to capitalize on this resurgence—its time would News, a far-right website which he described in 2016 as “the platform come later. for the alt-right”. Neo- and Fascism Another ideological influence on the alt right is neo-Nazism. Neo-Nazis are white supremacist groups that revere Adolf Neo-Nazis & Facist Hitler and and adopt many of the trappings, Anglin launched symbology and mythology of the Third Reich. Neo-Nazis on July 4, 2013, with shorter articles also adopt its extreme anti-Semitism, though many Hitlerian and a more provocative style. notions were dropped along the way, such as seeing Slavs as subhumans (modern white supremacists simply see them as “white”).

Alex Jones The best-known alt right figure associated with neo-Nazism Right-wing Conspiracy Theorists has been Andrew Anglin, the Ohio-based founder of the Daily Jones runs a website, Infowars. Stormer, which grew to be one of the most popular white com, devoted to conspiracy theories supremacist websites. The Daily Stormer was an attempt and , and the websites to repackage Anglin’s earlier website, Total Fascism, into a NewsWars and PrisonPlanet. punchier, more enticing format. 23 The Ideology of the Alt Right

As its name suggests, Anglin’s inspiration was Der Stürmer, Identitarianism the crudely racist and anti-Semitic published Another ideological influence on the alt right is identitarianism, by Nazi from 1923-1945. Anglin used which some have described as the European equivalent Nazi-inspired graphics for his website, as well as sections of the alt right, though that is only true in a loose sense. labeled “The Jewish Problem” and “Race War.” Posts on the Identitarianism is a right-wing European movement that site were very much in the spirit of Streicher, such as “The originated in the early 2000s in France and spread to Disturbing Rites of the ,” “Robin Williams Suicide: Jew other European countries. Like the alt right, identitarians Gold Doesn’t Bring Happiness,” and “Thousands of Ratlike attracted many young people to their ranks. At their simplest, Jews Demonstrate in .” With similar language, Anglin identitarians are anti-nativist nationalists who oppose non- also attacked blacks, Muslims, women, LGBTQ people and white (and especially Muslim) immigration into Europe, as well other minorities. as the continued existence of Jews and Roma within Europe. Though there are different strains of identitarianism, most Anglin, fluent in subculture (see next section), seek to change European countries into right-wing, nationalist also helped merge that subculture with hardcore white ethnostates; most also share a Europeanist vision of a Europe supremacy, frequently using its memes and language. cleansed of “alien influences.” Eventually, Anglin even created a guide to the alt right for “normies” (i.e., non-adherents), that explained many of Identitarian ideas have made their way into the United its memes and terms. States, where they are very compatible with views such as paleoconservatism. Richard Spencer, for example, has By 2017, Anglin toned down some of the Nazi-influenced proclaimed himself an identitarian and his National Policy graphics on the Daily Stormer, replacing them with images of Institute sponsored a “Why I’m an Identitarian” essay contest. the American flag and George Washington, though the site’s American identitarianism is somewhat different from its language did not change and Anglin continues to make European counterpart because America is a melting pot Nazi references. of different cultures and ethnicities. Thus for American identitarians the idea of a has largely Nazi and fascist influences can be seen elsewhere in the alt replaced the idea of national ethnostates, such as a purely right as well, in its language, memes, and even the screen Hungarian Hungary. Some Southern white supremacists have names of its adherents. People who equate the alt right with even combined identitarianism with “southern nationalism,” neo-Nazism are incorrect, but neo-Nazi influences are certainly calling for a Southern white ethnostate—this concept is evident in the alt right. sometimes known as the “alt South.” protesting in Dallas, TX on February 28, 2014. Photo: Sean P. Anderson 25 is the largest identitarian alt right group, Right-wing Conspiracy Theorists claiming its objective is to “create a better world for people Equally influential on the alt right are right-wing of European descent, particularly in America.” Like Spencer, conspiracy theorists, who provide raw material for the with whom it was initially aligned, Identity Evropa also alt right’s constant attempts to ignore or even erase the takes an interest in conservative politics. In an article line between fact and fiction. posted to its site after some of its members attended the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference, Of these, perhaps the most well-known is Alex Jones, Patrick Casey, the group’s leader, urged his followers the anti-government conspiracy theorist who emerged in to become active in politics by joining the College Texas in the 1990s as a proponent of militia-style “New Republicans or running for office. “Trump has given us World Order” conspiracies. From his obscure beginnings, The Ideology of the Alt Right the opportunity,” Casey wrote, “to transform the GOP Jones built a right-wing counterculture media , from a vehicle for Conservatism Inc. to one for providing himself with a prominent—and lucrative—pulpit Nationalism, and it’s up to us to seize the opportunity.” from which to blast his outrageous accusations, which he complements with rants, tears and occasional shirtlessness. As his influence grew, even then-presidential candidate Renegade Conservatives appeared on his show in December 2015. An important influence on the alt right has come from other right-wing figures and publications that consider Despite not being a white supremacist himself (Jones themselves renegade conservatives who are opposed emerged from the anti-government extremist wing of the far right), Jones has a fan base among alt right adherents, to neoconservatives, “,” and establishment not least for his support of Trump and his promotion of conservatives in general. By far the most influential conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate, a right-wing fiction entity of this sort has been , - that a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor was the source of a child wing website started by in 2007 and trafficking ring linked to ’s presidential campaign. continued by Steve Bannon after Breitbart’s death in 2012. , an Alex Jones acolyte from Great Britain, has become even more popular among the alt right. Bannon took Breitbart News down a darker road, Considerably younger than Jones, Watson is closer in age to emphasizing nationalism, anti-immigration, anti-Muslim most alt right adherents and even more adept at using social and other themes that were popular among alt right media, with well over a million YouTube subscribers and some adherents, many of whom became enthusiastic readers of 876,000 followers. Over time, Watson’s output has and commenters on its content. One former Breitbart editor evolved from New World Order-style conspiracy material to content more in-line with an alt right audience, including anti- described the site’s comments section as a “cesspool for immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric as well as support for Trump. white supremacist mememakers [sic].” In 2016, Bannon himself even declared that Breitbart was “the platform , the -based conspiracy theorist of the alt-right.” and Internet media personality, is just as influential and even closer to the alt right. Cernovich—another key propagator Though it seems that Bannon was referring to what would of Pizzagate and other, similar conspiracy theories—even later become known as the alt lite rather than the explicit identified as being part of the alt right at one time, once white supremacists such as Richard Spencer, Breitbart did tweeting that he was drawn to the alt right “after realizing hire figures such as to write for the site. tolerance only went one way and diversity is a code for white Yiannopoulos, though a gay man who has claimed not to genocide.” That last phrase is a popular white supremacist be racist, is a consummate right-wing troll with connections slogan but as the alt right became more associated in the public mind with , Cernovich has tried to to a variety of clearly racist alt right figures, from Andrew distance himself from it, aligning himself instead with the less Auernheimer to Day. An investigation by overtly racist alt lite. Cernovich is also known for his revealed further that some members of Yiannopoulos’s own and ties to the “” (see next section). entourage of assistants and ghost writers were also racists or white supremacists, such as Tim “Baked ” Gionet Jones, Watson, Cernovich and lesser conspiracy theorists have and Mike “Mike Ma” Mahoney. One former Yiannopoulos all depended on and used the alt right as part of their bases of ghostwriter, Lane Maurice Davis, was later arrested in 2017 support, while at the same time providing alt right adherents for the murder of his father, allegedly because his father had with a steady stream of conspiracies and fabrications to called him a Nazi and a racist during an argument. imbibe and spread.